Since moving to Montreal in 1984, pianist and composer Yves Léveillé has been increasingly called upon to perform his music at the national and international level. In the 90s, he decided to put together his own jazz ensemble dedicated to interpreting his compositions. This creative endeavour led to a collaboration with the jazz label Effendi, with whom he has made three albums : Signal Commun (FND001)1999, Zone Indigène (FND 023) 2001 and Quantique (FND 038) 2003, all three of each album also garnered several ADIQ and OPUS nominations and Zone Indigène was chosen by Archambault Musique as one of the « must-have » jazz recordings of 2003.

Yves Léveillé has performed his music mainly in Quebec, but also in many other Canadians cities such as Winnipeg, Halifax and Ottawa, as well as in France ( Paris, Vienne) and New York city , where he spent six months as a resident artist in the fall of 2004 thanks to a grant from the Quebec Government. His piano playing skills have led him to such far-flung locales as Singapore.

He has to his credit a large number of broadcasts/recordings for Radio-Canada and the CBC ( Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), as well as collaborations with established musicians such Paul McCandless, Jerri Brown, Helmut Lipsky, Karen Young, Pierre Tanguay, Alain Bédard, Eri Yamamoto and many others.

Parallel to his career as a jazz musician, he regularly works as a musical director and arranger for singers and songwriters, most notably for the show « Marie-Thérêse Fortin chante Barbara ». He occasionally composes music for the theater as well. Léveillé has also been teaching music at the Université du Québec à Montréal for several years, as well as a summer jazz workshop at Domaine Forget ( St-Irénée ) and Métabetchouan ( Lac St-Jean ) in Québec.

Léveillé’s latest album SOHO reveals a multi-dimensional artist, one whose music deftly evokes notions of space and intimacy as well as fiery passion. His music is brillantly rendered by the six-man ensemble.

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